I don't know if you've encountered that. (P.S. Cher fan alerts. I need help. If you're going to Target on Friday, check to see if Cher's Deluxe edition of the new CD is there. It's on sale.) (You can use my e-mail if you're a community member or you can e-mail me at common_ills@yahoo.com.)

Thank you to those of you who checked.

In Denton, Texas -- not one copy. The Oklahoma City one on Rockwell? Not one copy. In East Peoria? Not one copy. I can go and on like this with over 52 other Targets. The only Target I heard had copies? The one in Boyton Beach, Florida on Hagan Ranch. (If someone provided the street, I've noted it here.)

So they get exclusive on Cher's new deluxe edition album and they can't stock in the stores. Two of the Virginia stores told me they had sold out over the weekend (last weekend). And they couldn't get any more in. (At the third store no one knew if they'd ever had a copy.)

Broadway World noted this week:Billboard.com reports today that Cher's
newest studio album 'Closer to the Truth' is now her highest debut
(solo or otherwise) ever on the Billboard 200. The album, from Warner
Bros. Records, has sold 63,000 copies in its first week, hitting the No.
3 spot on the chart, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

That's for the week before last. With Target unable to stock the album this week, I wonder how much of a fall Cher will have. This is ridiculous and if I was working for her label or her, I'd be on the phone right now with Target management asking why they entered into a deal but now can't supply their stores with copies?

Friday, October 4, 2013. Chaos and violence continue, the election law
is still not passed, the white wash of the birth defects in Iraq is
called out, American professor Noam Chomsky offers some truth about
Iraq, US House Rep Tim Ryan drives his BMW to Congress (Bitch, Moan and
Whine), a new rumor about Iraqi Christians (which comes from an Iraqi
Christian), and more.

Yesterday, things really got shrill on the floor of Congress as US House Rep Tim Ryan screeched:

I was against the Iraq War! The Iraq War was unaffordable! The
Iraq War was unpopular! 58% of the American people were against the Iraq
War! Democrats didn't shut down the government! Use the political
process! Which we did and won the House back in '06 and won the
presidency in '08 and we wound down the Iraqi War!

KPFA played Little Coward Tim Ryan shrieking over and over yesterday and today.

Tim Ryan is offended that some against ObamaCare are willing to stand up for their beliefs.

If Little Coward Tim Ryan isn't a liar, he's just a little coward who
can't take a stand, he's confessed to how worthless and useless he is:

I was against the Iraq War! The Iraq War was unaffordable! The
Iraq War was unpopular! 58% of the American people were against the Iraq
War! Democrats didn't shut down the government!

Unaffordable?

Try criminal. It was criminal.

And notice how he can't speak of the human costs of that war. His own
guilt shames him into silence on that. He has blood on his hands and
wants to attack Republicans for doing now what he was too damn cowardly
to do?

As the American people are seeing right now, with ObamaCare, what you
could have done to stop the Iraq War but refused to do. Because Tim
Ryan was a coward.

How many people died -- and continue to die -- because of the cowardly, worthless Tim Ryan?

He threw a shrill tantrum on the floor of Congress yesterday that
basically confesses to his own worthlessness and cowardice. If he had
the same convictions the ObamaCare opponents do, the Iraq War could have
cost a lot less lives. (Maybe even been averted. He started serving in
Congress in January 2013.)

Tim Ryan: Democrats didn't shut down the government! Use the
political process! Which we did and won the House back in '06 and won
the presidency in '08 and we wound down the Iraqi War!

No, they didn't shut down the government. Nor did they end the illegal
war as they promised they would if they got even one house of Congress
in the 2006 mid-terms. They did nothing. They threatened. They got
the White House benchmarks -- and then refused to use them. (US House
Rep Lloyd Doggett was the only one in 2008 raising those benchmarks in
hearings.) They betrayed the people of America. And, as Tim Ryan's
shrill act should have gotten across, they could have stopped it in 2007
or 2008. But they chose not to.

Tim Ryan's proud moment is really just another example of the spineless
and cowardly behavior Congressional Democrats displayed throughout the
Bully Boy Bush years. In the Barack years? They can't show strength
now either. They can only whine and bitch.

The Tweet comes on the same day The Lancet publishes Paul C. Webster's article
questioning the ridiculous report the World Health Organization and and
the Iraqi Ministry of Interior 'published' (released in nonsense form)
last month on the birth defects in Iraq. Excerpt:

Researchers in Iraq, the UK, and the USA who
have probed congenital birth defects and have published recent
peer-reviewed studies also express concerns about the methodology
employed by the Iraqi MOH and WHO.

Although
WHO says that “at this point no effort to neither substantiate nor
negate the findings of other studies can be employed because the study
is not aiming to establish cause-effect associations between [congenital
birth defects] prevalence and environmental risk factors”, the study
issued by the Iraqi Government states that “in recent years there have
been several anecdotal reports of geographical regions with an unusually
high prevalence of congenital birth defects in Iraq. Most of the
reports did not meet the norms for an objective study of birth defects,
and a review of the published literature could find no clear evidence to
support their findings.”

Samira Alaani, a paediatrician in Fallujah, Iraq, who copublished a 2011 study
utilising hospital records to conclude that congenital malformations
accounted for 15% of all births in Fallujah since 2003, says the new
study cofunded by WHO and the Iraqi Government should have employed
hospital records more comprehensively.

Muhsin Al-Sabbak of the Basrah Medical School in Basrah, Iraq, who copublished a 2012 study
reporting a 17-fold increase in birth defects in the Al Basrah
Maternity Hospital since 1994, warns that the data from Basrah in the
new study does not match local hospital records.

Alison Alborz is a specialist on learning disabilities in children at the University of Manchester, UK, who published a 2013 study
presenting data from a 2010 survey of 6032 households in four Iraqi
governates including data for more than 10 000 children and young people
showing a prevalence of congenital birth defects more than 2·5 times
higher than reported in the Iraqi Government study. She says the new
report gives little information about sampling and does not offer any
discussion of whether the districts chosen for analysis “reflect the
characteristics of the governorate as a whole”.

The War Criminals are trying to cover their crimes. The US government
put heavy pressure on WHO over this report. Bully Boy Bush isn't in the
White House anymore. Meaning, the War Crimes continue. And, in the
US, you have to pin the continuation on someone other than Bully Boy
Bush. Can you do the math on your own? Every day children are born in
areas of Iraq with birth defects that are
a direct result of the illegal war, covering up a report, hiding it,
delaying it, will not change that fact. As Michel Chossudovsky (Global Research) noted last month, "Furthermore, recent revelations by Hans von Sponeck, the former
Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, suggest that WHO may
be susceptible to pressure from its member states. Mr. von Sponeck said
that 'The US government sought to prevent WHO from surveying areas in
southern Iraq where DU had been used and caused serious health and
environmental dangers'."

This week, one of the world's most renowned and respected medical journals, The Lancet, joined the chorus of epidemiologists challenging the credibility of
a recently-released report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and
the Iraqi Health Ministry. The report contradicts consistent reporting
of high rates of birth defects in Iraq following the U.S. invasion in
2003. The WHO's defense of the study despite the critiques from many
corners raises questions as to the independence of the international
body tasked with monitoring and addressing public health crises around
the globe.
Doctors across Iraq report that cancer rates, birth defects, and
other environmental health problems have skyrocketed since 2003. In the
words of Dr. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist
based in Michigan who has been studying the rise in congenital birth
defects in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion, "Iraq is poisoned." Among the toxic munitions used by the U.S. military, depleted uranium, also known as "DU," is known
to lead to cancer and genetic defects from exposure to its radiation
and carcinogenic chemical properties. Scientific studies also strongly suggest that DU can interfere with the pre-natal development of a fetus.
Please note that US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John
Kerry have recently developed an interest in chemical weapons. As the Iraq Solidarity Association in Stockholm has pointed out:

Weapons with depleted uranium were previously used during the first
Gulf War in 1991. The city of Basra suffered harshly. In 2004 the US
carried out two big attacks against the city of Fallujah. Uranium
weapons as well as white phosphorus were used against the civilian
population. Many deformed children have been born in Fallujah at the
General Hospital since then. In Fallujah, Basra, Najaf, Bagdad, Hawija
and other cities children suffer from deformities, cancer and other
illnesses.We have previously encouraged the Swedish government to both
nationally and internationally support independent, international
investigations about the children and the causes of their serious
genetic disorders and the increasing frequency of illnesses. You now
have an excellent opportunity to encourage President Obama to reveal the
systems and quantities of weapons the US used in Fallujah. This would
be of enormous assistance to the research.President Obama´s Secretary of State John Kerry has said that the US
condemns the use of chemical weapons. In order for this statement to be
able to be taken seriously President Obama must account in detail for
the US use of chemical weapons and demand legal responsibility for the
crimes committed. Instead President Obama´s Justice Department has
demanded immunity for his predecessor George W Bush and five of his
close conspirators for war crimes. No responsible person on a high level
in the US administration may be charged with war crimes!

I do not see any contradiction in feeling sympathy for the
dead US Marines and soldiers and at the same time feeling sympathy for
the Fallujans who fell to their guns. The contradiction lies in
believing that we were liberators, when in fact we oppressed the
freedoms and wishes of Fallujans. The contradiction lies in believing
that we were heroes, when the definition of "hero" bares no relation to
our actions in Fallujah.What we did to Fallujah cannot be undone,
and I see no point in attacking the people in my former unit. What I
want to attack are the lies and false beliefs. I want to destroy the
prejudices that prevented us from putting ourselves in the other's shoes
and asking ourselves what we would have done if a foreign army invaded
our country and laid siege to our city.I understand the
psychology that causes the aggressors to blame their victims. I
understand the justifications and defence mechanisms. I understand the
emotional urge to want to hate the people who killed someone dear to
you. But to describe the psychology that preserves such false beliefs is
not to ignore the objective moral truth that no attacker can ever
justly blame their victims for defending themselves.The same distorted morality has been used to justify attacks against the native Americans, the Vietnamese, El Salvadorans, and the Afghans.
It is the same story over and over again. These people have been
dehumanised, their God-given right to self-defence has been
delegitimised, their resistance has been reframed as terrorism, and US
soldiers have been sent to kill them.History has preserved these
lies, normalised them, and socialised them into our culture: so much so
that legitimate resistance against US aggression is incomprehensible to
most, and to even raise this question is seen as un-American.

Events
November 18th
Premier screening of Fear Not the Path of Truth
At the Paulist Center
5 Park St. Boston, MA
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
The screening will be followed by a reception with free food and drinks (no alcohol allowed).

November 19th
Screening of Fear Not the Path of Truth
At the Old Oak Dojo
14 Chestnut Place, Boston MA

In June, Alsumaria reported that congenital malformations and rates of cancer are extremely
high as a result of the uranium munitions the US military used. It's no
longer unusual for a child to be born with two heads or with just one
eye, the report explains, and the health statistics are much worse than
in Japan in the aftermath of the US using the atomic bombs. In Falluja,
children born with deformities account for 14.7% of all births. The
report notes that although Iraq has a population estimated at 31
million, there are only 20,000 medical doctors and just over 100
psychotherapists in the country. Dr. Mozhgan Savabiesfahani also penned a column for Al Jazeera last March:Our study in two Iraqi cities, Fallujah and Basrah, focused on
congenital birth defects. In both cities, the study revealed increasing
numbers of congenital birth defects, especially neural tube defects and
congenital heart defects. It also revealed public contamination with two
major neurotoxic metals, lead and mercury. The Iraq birth defects
epidemic is, however, surfacing in the context of many more public
health problems in bombarded cities. Childhood leukemia, and other types
of cancers are increasing in Iraq. Childhood leukemia rates in Basra more than doubled between 1993 and 2007. In 1993, the annual rate of childhood leukemia was 2.6 per 100,000 individuals and by 2006 it had reached 12.2 per 100,000.Multiple cancers in patients (patients with simultaneous tumors on
both kidneys and in the stomach, for example), an extremely rare
occurrence, have also been reported. Dr Jawad al-Ali, a cancer
specialist at the Sadr Teaching Hospital in Basra, discussed the issue of multiple cancers with Der Spiegel
last December. Familial cancer clusters, described as the occurrence of
multiple cancers throughout an entire family, were also disclosed in
that Spiegel report. These observations collectively suggest an extraordinary public
health emergency in Iraq. Such a crisis requires urgent multifaceted
international action to prevent further damage to public health.

She's right, this is a crisis. It needs to addressed immediately -- not
denied, not covered up. Cleaned up? Yeah, as much as it can be, the
toxic areas need to be cleaned up and the US government is the one who
should be footing the costs. Former United Nations Humanitarian
Coordinator Denis Halliday (Global Research) observes, "This tragedy in Iraq reminds one of US Chemical Weapons used in
Vietnam. And that the US has failed to acknowledge or pay compensation
or provide medical assistance to thousands of deformed children born and
still being born due to American military use of Agent Orange
throughout the country. The millions of gallons of this chemical dumped
on rural Vietnam were eagerly manufactured and sold to the Pentagon by
companies Dupont, Monsanto and others greedy for huge profits.’

Preachers of Friday-prayers called on the sit-inner in their sermons to
continue the sit-ins as are the only way to get rid of injustice and
abuse policy.They said in the common prayer which held in six
regions of Diyala province : " Iraqi government must not deal with the
demands of the protestors in a double standard . Urging worshipers to
unify their stand until getting the demands, release innocent prisoners
and detainees from prisons.

Kitabat reports
that Sheikh Mohammed al-Dulaimi spoke at the Falluja protest and
accused the government of supporting militias who target and kill
Sunnis. The Sheikh said that instead of implementing the demands of the
protesters, the government would rather target or ignore the
protesters. National Iraqi News offers the Sheikh said, ""The Iraqi government rather than implement the demands of the
protesters and adopt genuine reconciliation with people, it tracking and
embarrassing the protest leaders, since 9 Months ago claimants the
usurped legal rights."

Sheikh Mohammed al-Dulaimi is correct in his accusation: Nouri
al-Maliki (prime minister and chief thug of Iraq) is supporting Shi'ite
militias. Tim Arango (New York Times) broke that story last week
-- but somehow the US Congress and the rest of the media missed it.
(The media may be playing dumb. Members of Congress actually missed it,
I spoke with several yesterday about Tim Arango's report.) Arango
noted:

In supporting Asaib al-Haq, Mr. Maliki has apparently made the risky
calculation that by backing some Shiite militias, even in secret, he can
maintain control over the country’s restive Shiite population and,
ultimately, retain power after the next national elections, which are
scheduled for next year. Militiamen and residents of Shiite areas say
members of Asaib al-Haq are given government badges and weapons and
allowed freedom of movement by the security forces.

And the protesters were targeted today. NINA notes both the Falluja and the Ramadi sit-ins were targeted with sound bombs.

The Associated Press reports
the targeting of a Sunni mosque in Umm al-Adham with a bombing ("hidden
inside an air conditioner) which has left at least 33 people dead and
at least forty-five injured.

The Iraq Times reports that
Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi declared Nouri al-Maliki
must be stopped from wasting the Iraqi people's money. Chalabi is
complaining that Nouri has earmarked $15 million for Somolia. Chalabi
demands to know what gave Nouri the right to give these funds? Chalabi
points out that, in Iraq, many families currently go without food and
poverty is widespread. What does it mean? Every four years, Chalabi
offers criticism of Nouri. Campaign season is beginning in Iraq. Musrafa al-Kadhimi (Al-Monitor) reports today:

Iraqi politicians are obviously unwilling
and probably incapable of offering any consensual solutions to the
exacerbating Iraqi crisis before the Iraqi parliamentary elections likely to be held in the middle of next year.
The main reason for this conviction is that the various parties are
still hoping the elections will solve the crisis. This is not based on a
firm conviction that elections are a democratic means for changing
power, but rather on the hope that elections will change the current
political map in favor of one party or another, allowing it to impose
its vision of the solution.
The truth is, while elections represent a suitable track for venting
political tensions, they are not sufficient as an end goal to a crisis,
such as the one currently faced by Iraq. This is a country that remains
unable to overcome its transitional phase, and is embroiled in conflicts
over the foundations of its political processes and the dispute over
the method of the state administration, in addition to major security
collapses.For an election to be held, the Parliament must pass a law. NINA reports:

Rapporter of the parliament MP, for IS coalition , Muhammad Al-Khalidi
said " adjorning of today's parliament session to next Monday represent
the last chance to vote on the election law.

Khalidi pointed out
at a press conference today that "differences on the paragraphs of the
election law are still ongoing between the political blocs," adding that
"the Presidency of the House of Representatives has given the political
blocs the final chance to reach an agree on the electoral law on next
Monday.

QUESTION: The other question is related to the mention that the Congress approved the program --MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.QUESTION: -- or the funding of the program for the Iraqi visas or those Iraqis who work for U.S.MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.QUESTION: In the same time, I mean, the other budget
allocation is not done for the other activities. I mean, how you can
explain that? I mean, it’s like you can spend money for that program but
you cannot spend other money for some essential activities?MS. HARF: Well, to be clear, they voted yesterday to extend
the program. I’m not sure about where the funding for it exactly lies,
what bucket of money that comes out of. We thought it was an important
step that they did come together to vote to extend it. But clearly, we
believe that all of our programs are important, and we believe that we
shouldn’t have to make difficult choices between competing priorities
that are very important to our foreign policy. So I was giving, as an
example, of a way Congress has been able to work together on an
important priority for us.

When the five year old visa plan ended on September 30, it threatened
to halt the visa processing for thousands of Iraqis who had helped the
American military during the near decade long war. The 2,500 odd interpreters whose visas are awaiting approval are often at risk from extremists who consider them traitors for having helped American forces.“These
are the interpreters, the guides, drivers, people who performed a
myriad of functions that were essential for American operations,” said
Representative Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat who introduced the
first legislation on the program six years ago. “Last night, the United
States sent a signal that we are not going to leave them behind.”

Iraq
ranked second in the world’s worst passports list due to the problems
its carriers face to acquire visas, according to Henley & Partners’
Visa Restrictions Index 2013.
Afghanistan came first, followed by Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, Occupied Palestine, Eretria, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Lebanon.

However, one Iraqi politician feels that visas are being given out too
easily -- to one segment of the population -- by the US. Alsumaria reports:

Member
of Parliament Imad Youkhana, affiliated with Al Rafidayn Bloc, accused
the American Embassy in Iraq of working on making all the Christians
leave Iraq, urging it to cease giving them visas. He also urged the
Iraqi Government to intervene quickly and solve this problem.

“The American Embassy in Baghdad and Arbil are working on making all the
Iraqi Christians leave by offering them facilitation and visas to the
United States under different pretenses”, said Youkhana in a press
release of which Alsumaria got a copy. He warned against the dangers of
allowing Christian Iraqi families to travel away, namely voiding Iraq of
one of its most important component. This is a negative and
inacceptable phenomenon.

“Giving visa to entire families is considered a masked ethnic cleansing
that uses the pretext of protecting minorities from terrorism”, he
revealed, pointing out that “this aims to hide their political failure
in Iraqi after they couldn’t take the moral blame of the instability in
Iraq post-occupation”.

On Oct. 7, 2013, a number of NYC peace
groups will mark the 12th year of our invasion of Afghanistan by
rallying at Union Square to demand an end to the war, to ask the
question, "Can We Go Home Now?"

Names of the 2,272 fallen U.S, military killed in Afghanistan will be read.

The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to capture Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist group Al Qaeda.

Mission accomplished!

· Osama bin Laden is dead

· There are fewer than 100 Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan.

The protesters believe there is nothing more to be gained by remaining in Afghanistan.

The government we installed after overthrowing the Taliban is hopelessly corrupt;

It is clear that some in the current Afghanistan government are in cahoots with the Taliban and are undermining NATO efforts ;

Prolonged
occupation inevitably creates anti-U.S. resentment, just as we would
resent a foreign occupation force within our borders;Our
attempts to "nation-build" a country we don't understand has cost U.S.
thousands of casualties and tens of thousands of Afghan civilian deaths,
which has only served to radicalize more of the population;

The cost of the war is now $120 billion per year, money that should fund new priorities reflecting urgent human needs.

"We are holding this important action so that people will realize the terrible human cost of war," said Vicki McFadyen, Treasurer of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO).

Friday, October 04, 2013

Seriously, I make fudge every Thanksgiving and Christmas for my families big get-togethers.

I do a pretty good job, FYI.

But I don't eat my own fudge.

I may have a piece or usually a half piece. I'll pop it in when I'm helping my mom clean up after the big meal.

I once made a batch for Thanksgiving and ate the whole thing myself and then had to drive all over looking for the stuff (I make it from scratch). Now, granted, I was stoned at the time. But it could have happened that way without the pot.

At any rate, I love to eat good fudge.

Almost any fudge qualifies as good fudge to me.

It can have walnuts and I don't mind.

What I do mind is when a brownie or a caked brownie or a caked brownie with icing is billed as fudge.

I don't know if you've encountered that. (P.S. Cher fan alerts. I need help. If you're going to Target on Friday, check to see if Cher's Deluxe edition of the new CD is there. It's on sale.) (You can use my e-mail if you're a community member or you can e-mail me at common_ills@yahoo.com.)

Thursday, October 3, 2013. Chaos and violence continue, kidnappings are
part of the violence and there's news there today, still no election
law passed by Parliament, oil exports are down, Nouri's also still using
those 'magic' wands at checkpoints despite the fact that the man who
made and sold them is in a British prison for those defective wands,
Senators Robert Menendez and John McCain inform the State Dept aid and
weapon sales to Iraq can be stopped by the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, and more.

As of last month, Camp Ashraf in Iraq is empty. All remaining members of the
community have been moved to Camp Hurriya (also known as Camp Liberty).
Camp Ashraf housed a group of Iranian dissidents who were welcomed to
Iraq by Saddam Hussein in 1986 and he gave them Camp
Ashraf and six other parcels that they could utilize. In 2003, the US
invaded Iraq.The US government had the US military lead negotiations
with the residents of Camp Ashraf. The US government wanted the
residents to disarm and the US promised protections to the point that
US actions turned the residents of Camp Ashraf into protected person
under the Geneva Conventions. This is key and demands the US defend the
Ashraf community in Iraq from attacks. The Bully Boy Bush
administration grasped that -- they were ignorant of every other law on
the books but they grasped that one. As 2008 drew to a close, the Bush
administration was given assurances from the Iraqi government that they
would protect the residents. Yet Nouri al-Maliki ordered the camp
repeatedly attacked after Barack Obama was sworn in as US President. July 28, 2009
Nouri launched an attack (while then-US Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates was on the ground in Iraq). In a report released this summer
entitled "Iraqi government must respect and protect rights of Camp Ashraf residents,"
Amnesty International described this assault, "Barely a month later,
on 28-29 July 2009, Iraqi security forces stormed into the camp; at
least nine residents were killed and many more were injured. Thirty-six
residents who were detained were allegedly tortured and beaten. They
were eventually released on 7 October 2009; by then they were in poor
health after going on hunger strike." April 8, 2011,
Nouri again ordered an assault on Camp Ashraf (then-US Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates was again on the ground in Iraq when the assault
took place). Amnesty International described the assault this way,
"Earlier this year, on 8 April, Iraqi troops took up positions within
the camp using excessive, including lethal, force against residents who
tried to resist them. Troops used live ammunition and by the end of
the operation some 36 residents, including eight women, were dead and
more than 300 others had been wounded. Following international and
other protests, the Iraqi government announced that it had appointed a
committee to investigate the attack and the killings; however, as on
other occasions when the government has announced investigations into
allegations of serious human rights violations by its forces, the
authorities have yet to disclose the outcome, prompting questions
whether any investigation was, in fact, carried out." Those weren't
the last attacks. They were the last attacks while the residents were
labeled as terrorists by the US State Dept. (September 28, 2012, the designation was changed.) In spite of this labeling, Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observed that "since 2004, the United States has considered the residents of
Camp Ashraf 'noncombatants' and 'protected persons' under the Geneva
Conventions." So the US has an obligation to protect the residents.
3,300 are no longer at Camp Ashraf. They have moved to Camp Hurriyah
for the most part. A tiny number has received asylum in other
countries. Approximately 100 were still at Camp Ashraf when it was
attacked Sunday. That was the second attack this year alone. February 9th of this year, the Ashraf residents were again attacked, this time the ones who had been relocated to Camp Hurriyah. Trend News Agency counted 10 dead and over one hundred injured. Prensa Latina reported, " A rain of self-propelled Katyusha missiles hit a provisional camp of
Iraqi opposition Mujahedin-e Khalk, an organization Tehran calls
terrorists, causing seven fatalities plus 50 wounded, according to an
Iraqi official release." They were attacked again September 1st. Adam Schreck (AP) reported that the United Nations was able to confirm the deaths of 52 Ashraf residents.

Dropping back to September 16's snapshot:
US Senator Robert Menendez issued a statement
on the attack which included, "I hold the Iraqi government directly
responsible to protect the community, to investigate this matter
thoroughly, and to prosecute the perpetrators of this heinous act. I am
deeply concerned for the seven hostages who were taken during this
attack. The Iraqi government should act swiftly to determine their
whereabouts and ensure their safety. There is added urgency for the
global community, as well as for the United States, to help resettle
this community outside of Iraq, and end this cycle of ongoing terror
attacks." Seven Ashraf hostages? Nouri's government denied they existed
but they did and do. Last week, UNHCR issued the following statement:These seven are all known by UNHCR to be asylum-seekers, and the agency
hopes to have an opportunity to interview them. In light of the
numerous and persistent reports over the past week that these
individuals may be at risk of forced return to Iran, UNHCR calls upon
the Government of Iraq to locate them, to ensure their physical
security, and to safeguard them against return to Iran against their
will.

US House Rep Dana Rohrabacher issued a statement
noting them and the continued attacks on the Ashraf community. He
observed, "The refugees disarmed themselves with faith in U.S.
Government guarantees of their safety. If we fail them, nobody will
believe us again."

This morning, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on
Iran and its nuclear ambitions (or perceived ones). Senator Robert
Menendez is the Chair of the Committee. Senator Bob Corker is the
Ranking Member. Appearing before the Committee today were two panels.
The first panel was the State Dept's Under Secretary for Political
Affairs Wendy Sherman, the second panel was Washington Institute for
Near East Policy's James Jeffrey (Jeffrey was also a US Ambassador to
Iraq -- one of four in Barack's first term and don't forget failed
nominee Brett McGurk), the Institute for Science and International
Security's David Albright and the Council on Foreign Relation's Ray
Takeyh.

From the first panel:

Senator John McCain: In the situation as it relates to the Camp
Ashraf people, we know that they were Iranian dissidents. At one
point, they were designated as a terrorist organization. But the
United States government, it's true, gave them an assurance that if they
moved [to Camp Liberty] they would be protected. We know that the
Iranian influence has increased in, uh, in Iraq. In fact, we know now
that Iraq is alive and well and doing extremely well moving back and
forth across the two countries. Now there was a murder of, I
believe, 51 people who were members of this camp and many of them had
in their possession guarantees from the United States of America that
they would not be harmed. What-what lessons -- First, are these facts
true? And, second, if they are true, what message does that send to
people who we say will be under our protection?Wendy Sherman: Senator, uh, I share your, deep concern about
what happened, uh, at Camp Ashraf. This was a vicious attack in
September 1st and many lives were lost. And the US continues to press
the government of Iraq at every opportunity, at very senior -- at the
most senior levels to ensure the safety and security of residents at
Camp Hurriya where many of the MEK were moved for better safety. We
strongly and swiftly condemned the attack. We of course extend our
condolences to the victims' families and we are working with the
government of Iraq and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq,
UNAMI, to peacefully and voluntarily transfer the surviving residents to
safety at Camp Hurriya on September 12th. And we are working for the
protection of the people in Camp Hurriya because we do not want a repeat
of this. So, to date, the government of Iran -- of Iraq has moved in
over 700 large T-walls, over 500 bunkers, over 600 small T-walls and
nearly 50,000 sandbags. UN monitors visit the camp daily in accordance
with the MOU to asses human rights and humanitarian conditions. But I
must say, Senator, the real answer to this, to the safety and security
of all the people in the camps -- who wants to live in a camp? -- is
resettlement to third countries to get out of Iraq and to get out of
harms way. And I would call on all the people who are here today
representing the rights and the interests of the MEK and the leaders of
the MEK in the camps and in Paris, uh, to allow this resettlement to go
forward because until the resettlement happens safety and security is
going to be a risk. We will do everything in our power to keep people
safe in these camps. But, as you point out, the al Qaeda threat is
increasing in Iraq and it is difficult.Senator John McCain: And I hope that this issue will be raised
with the Iraqi government. And we in Congress may have to look at the
kind of aid and how we are extending that to Iraq if this kind of thing
is going to be countenanced by the Iraqi government. I don't -- I've
used up all my time. And I thank you for your response.Chair Robert Menendez: Before I turn to Senator [Edward] Markey
let me echo what Senator McCain has said in this regard. And I put out a
statement in this regard, I also talked to our Department. You know,
America went to the MEK and we said, 'Disarm and we will protect you.'
And then we ultimately left and that protection has not been there. You
can put up I don't care how many tons of sand bags but when elements of
the Iraqi forces actually may very well be complicit in what took
place, sand bags aren't going to take care of the problem. And I agree
with you that resettlement is a critical part. Maybe the United States
could be part of leading the way in saying to a universe of
these individuals that in fact you can be resettled to the United
States. And that would get the rest of the world to offer further
resettlement. But it is unacceptable to lose one more life when American
commanders gave these individuals a written guarantee towards their
safety. And it sends a message to others in the world that when we say
we are going to do that and we do not, they should not trust us. And
for one thing that this Committee can do since it has jurisdiction over
all weapon sales is that I doubt very much that we are going to see any
approval of any weapon sales to Iraq until we get this situation in a
place where people's lives are safe.

First off, I counted at least 15 Ashraf supporters attending the
hearing. (They wore yellow.) Second, I don't mean to be rude here, but
why don't you know your facts?

We were at the hearing today because we knew there was a good chance
that Ashraf would be raised. McCain and Menendez are among those who
regularly raise the issue. So the State Dept should have known that as
well.

Instead, it's like an AA meeting facilitated by someone who never did
the steps. To answer McCain's two questions, she had to pull out 'The
Big Book.' The State Dept cheat sheet. She was reading aloud and had
no idea what she was quickly skimming. That's how she made this
mistake:

We of course extend our condolences to the victims' families
and we are working with the government of Iraq and the United Nations
Assistance Mission for Iraq, UNAMI, to peacefully and voluntarily
transfer the surviving residents to safety at Camp Hurriya on September
12th.

And "we are working" on something that took place September 12th? She
had no idea until she finished her skimming while testifying that the US
was not "working" because everyone had been moved out of Ashraf by the
12th.

She still didn't grasp what she'd read:

But I must say, Senator, the real answer to this, to the safety and
security of all the people in the camps -- who wants to live in a camp?
-- is resettlement to third countries to get out of Iraq and to get out
of harms way.

"In the camps"? There's only one camp now, Camp Hurriya. Second,
learn. Do your damn job and learn. It shouldn't be that damn difficult
when you consider all the money US taxpayers are giving the State Dept
to work in Iraq (only Afghanistan exceeds Iraq in terms of the State
Dept's budget). Wendy Sherman showed up knowing nothing about the
topic. "Who wants to live in a camp?"

Camp Ashraf was established decades ago. The residents didn't want to
leave it. Not for Camp Hurriya, not to move anywhere else. It had
become their home.

That's why the international press showed them with tears, the first
group forced out. They were crying because they were leaving their
homes.

If you don't grasp that, you shouldn't be speaking on the topic on behalf of the US government.

Wendy Sherman doesn't want to live in a camp?

Got it.

But Wendy Sherman isn't a Camp Ashraf resident nor is she every person
on the face of the planet. Meaning? What she likes and doesn't like
does not get reflected 100% across humanity. She needs to stop try to
be the Voice of All People and instead learn some facts.

We're not done yet because she wasn't done yet showing her ignorance.
She said, "We will do everything in our power to keep people safe in
these camps. But, as you point out, the al Qaeda threat is increasing
in Iraq and it is difficult." First off, no, the US government is not
doing everything in its power. It could take some of the US forces
(including the unit Barack sent in fall 2012) and have them protect Camp
Hurriya. Or it could demand that United Nations security forces go in
and protect the people of Hurriya.

Second of all, al Qaeda?

How stupid is Wendy Sherman?

She didn't have the brains to realize Ashraf would probably be an issue. Then she wants to blame al Qaeda?

It was most likely Nouri's forces. Barring that, it was fighters from Iran who were waived in.

If the State Dept is so stupid they think al Qaeda is in Iran, then the whole world's at risk.

al Qaeda in Iraq is a Sunni phenomenon (created by the Iraq War). The
MEK are Shi'ites from Iran. The people who want them out of Iraq?
Shi'ites. Not Sunnis. al Qaeda in Iraq has no interest in the 3,000 or
so MEK. They're not upset that the MEK has been at war with the
government of Iran. They don't care. It's not their battle.

Wendy Sherman needs to learn her facts before she next offers
Congressional testimony. And here's a little clue for her bosses,
tossing her the State Dept big book as a cheat sheet doesn't cover it.
Here's another clue: Pay attention to members of Congress.

We quoted Senator Menendez's statement in full when it was released --
that wasn't even a month ago. How did the State Dept miss that
statement on Iraq? And what fool didn't realize that Senator Robert
Menendez is Committee Chair Robert Menendez of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee? That used to be chaired by John Kerry, who is now
over the State Dept, so I would think there would be a level of
awareness. This is the Committee that provides oversight of the State
Dept.

Wendy Sherman was an embarrassment. Part of that's not her fault.
State Dept witnesses have gotten so lax and -- like Wendy today -- are
more concerned with snapping a variation of 'let me finish speaking'
then of knowing the basic facts. That's something to be addressed
department wide by the Secretary of State (Kerry). But going into that
hearing she should have some awareness that Iraq -- Iran's neighbor --
would likely come up as a topic in the hearing.

Equally true, 7 Ashraf residents remain missing. The US government --
including the State Dept -- believes Nouri al-Maliki, prime minister and
chief thug in Iraq, has them in one of his secret prisons. The UN has
called on him to release them. But, as Alsumaria has repored,
Nouri has issued a statement declaring his security forces were not
holding any hostages. He denies they exist. That's 7 people the US
government swore it would protect. And Wendy Sherman didn't think this
topic would come up?

Let's go back to Chair Menendez for just a moment.

Chair Robert Menendez: And for one thing that this Committee can
do since it has jurisdiction over all weapon sales is that I doubt very
much that we are going to see any approval of any weapon sales to Iraq
until we get this situation in a place where people's lives are safe.

Though neither Iraqi nor U.S. officials will say who called off the
drones, it's no secret who began discussing them in the first place. In
an August 17 trip
to Washington, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters
that Baghdad is seeking U.S. advisers, air surveillance or drone strikes
to combat al-Qaeda's grip on the country. "We cannot fight these
increasing terrorist" threats alone, he said. Speaking of drone strikes
specifically, he said as long as they were used to "target al-Qaeda and
their bases," without "collateral damage," Iraqis would welcome them.
That same month, Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. Iraq Lukman Faily
reiterated Iraq's interest in drones. "The reason we're now considering
drone support is because we need to get better control of the sky so we
can track and destroy al-Qaeda camps in the country," Faily told The Cable.
It's not hard to understand why they'd be interested in the unmanned aircraft. On Monday, the detonation
of 15 car bombs in Baghdad left dozens dead in an event that would've
shocked any other country not embroiled in a civil war. However, in
Iraq, it was only the 38th such atrocity in the last 12 months. In 2013
alone, Iraq is averaging 68 car bombings a month. The United Nations reports that 5,740 civilians were killed since January, which is almost two times more deaths than recorded in all of 2010.
Despite the staggering numbers, the U.S. isn't about to open up a new
drone war in Iraq. "The use of lethal drones has not been discussed nor
is it even under consideration for Iraq," an administration official
tells The Cable.

39 minutes.

Yesterday,
in Iraq, two more helicopters were shot down (4 died in the first
crash, none died in the second). The drones in question would be
presumably be predator drones. Iraqi air space is already invaded by
drones. First off, drones fly in from Turkey. Those may be Turkish
drones or CIA drones. In Bully Boy Bush's second term, the Turkish
government gave land for a CIA sub-station and got drones in return.
The drones flying in Iraqi airspace may also be part of the CIA presence
in Iraq or the US army's Special-Ops forces. In addition, the Iraqi
press has quoted various Iraqi officials insisting that neighbor Saudi
Arabia flies drones over Iraq.

Though they won't be getting drones from the US (for now anyway), they are planning to send something into flight. Alsumaria reports Abdul Karim al-Samarrai, Minister of Science and Technology, states they will launch a satellite in April.

Oren Dorell (USA Today) reports,
"While jihadi fighters spilling over from Syria's civil war are a
major factor, the violence is also a result of unresolved political
stress between Iraq's Shiite majority and a disillusioned Sunni
minority, and shows that the USA needs to rebuild its influence in the
country, especially with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said
Kenneth Pollack, an analyst at the Brookings Institution." He quotes
Pollack stating, "We've got to rebuild our influence with Iraq and
restrain all the
different sides. We need to get Maliki to make
significant concessions and slowly push both sides to rebuild that deal
we hammered out in 2008."

There was also kidnapping news. All Iraq News notes
that a group of farmers were kidnapped in Samarra. Why? They were
said to have been cooperating with the federal police forces. The outlet also notes
that kidnappers released some kidnapping victims today and they were
then "transported to Tikrit where one of them has lost his mind due to
severe torture and passed away when he arrived at the hospital,"
according to a police source.

Having lived through years of violence and war,
many Iraqis didn’t believe the hype about the recent “summer of terror”.
In general, they didn’t think there could be all-out sectarian war
again so soon. But over the past few weeks this has changed: real signs
of sectarian conflict are starting to emerge again, corpses are being
left on streets, and ordinary Baghdadis are starting to worry.

The Shiite Muslim family headed by local man, Abbas, lives
in Sadr City, in Baghdad. Recently the family members have been
watching TV news reports all about death, violence, murder, kidnapping
and internal displacement in their country. Not that far away in the
mainly Sunni Muslim neighbourhood of Saidiya, in southern Baghdad, the
Sunni Muslim family headed by Mohammed, has been watching the same
reports.
And despite their sectarian and social differences, the
two families share one fear: that a sectarian conflict is about to start
in Iraq again.
Both families have as much reason to fear this as any
other Iraqi: A member of Abbas’ family was killed during the last round
of sectarian violence when the family was living in the mostly Sunni
Muslim area of Amiriya. Meanwhile Mohammed’s brother was kidnapped by
unidentified gunmen in 2006 – they still don’t know what happened to him
but can only assume he was killed.
And Baghdadis in particular know about the signs of
sectarian conflict. When violence erupted between 2006 and 2008 between
Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims, Baghdad was at the centre of much of
the unrest because of the variety of different sects and ethnicities
resident here.
For months now, Iraq has been being tormented by a wave of
carefully coordinated bombs and terrorist attacks. Security forces
appear to have been unable to stop these – recently one even went off in
the mostly peaceful, semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. But
although these events are clearly frightening and they terrorize the
population, most locals have not believed they were leading to the start
of a new sectarian conflict.

In November of last year, Rod Nordland (New York Times) explained
the 'bomb detectors' in use in Iraq: "The small hand-held wand, with a
telescopic antenna on a swivel, is being used at hundreds of checkpoints
in Iraq. But the device works 'on the same principle as a Ouija board'
-- the power of suggestion -- said a retired United States Air Force
officer, Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, who described the wantd as nothing more
than an explosive divining rod." They are the ADE 651s with a ticket
price of between $16,500 and $60,000 and Iraq had bought over
1,500. More news came with arrests on January 22: "Caroline Hawley (BBC Newsnight -- link has text and video) reports
that England has placed an export ban on the ADE-651 'bomb detector' --
a device that's cleaned Iraq's coffers of $85 million so far. Steven Morris (Guardian) follows up
noting that, 'The managing director [Jim McCormick] of a British
company that has been selling bomb-detecting equipment to security
forces in Iraq was arrested on suspicion of fraud today'." From the January 25th snapshot:

Riyad Mohammed and Rod Norldand (New York Times) reported on Saturday that
the reaction in Iraq was outrage from officials and they quote MP Ammar
Tuma stating, "This company not only caused grave and massive losses of
funds, but it has caused grave and massive losses of the lives of
innocent Iraqi civilians, by the hundreds and thousands, from attacks
that we thought we were immune to because we have this device." Despite
the turn of events, the machines continue to be used in Iraq but 'now'
an investigation into them will take place orded by Nouri. As opposed to
months ago when they were first called into question. Muhanad Mohammed (Reuters) adds that members of Parliament were calling for an end to use of the machines on Saturday. Martin Chulov (Guardian) notes the US military has long -- and publicly -- decried the use of the machines, "The US military
has been scathing, claiming the wands contained only a chip to detect
theft from stores. The claim was based on a study released in June by US
military scientists, using x-ray and laboratory analysis, which was
passed on to Iraqi officials."

Today the BBC reports
police raids took place at "Global Tech, of Kent, Grosvenor Scientific,
in Devon, and Scandec, of Nottingham. Cash and hundreds of the devices
have been seized, and a number of people are due to be interviewed under
caution on suspicion of fraud." Michael Peel and Sylvia Pfeifer (Financial Times of London) add,
"Colin Cowan, head of City police's overseas anti-corruption unit, said
investigators were seeking further information from the public about
the manufacture, sale and distribution of the devices. Det Supt Cowan
said: 'We are concerned that these items present a real physical threat
to anyone who may rely on such a device for protection'."

Robert Booth (Guardian) notes
Saad al-Muttalibi ("adviser to Nouri al-Maliki) is insisting Nouri's
considering suing on behalf of the victims. Actually, the families of
the victims should be suing Nouri for allowing those things to be used
for the last years, even after the wands were globally revealed to be a
joke. The Belfast Telegraph notes that McCormick "showed no reaction as he was told his 'callous confidence trick' was the worst fraud imaginable." Jake Ryan quotes
Judge Richard Hone stating, "The device was useless, the profit
outrageous and your culpability as a fraudster has to be placed in the
highest category. Your profits were obscene. You have neither insight,
shame or any sense of remorse."

As we have repeatedly noted, Nouri can't sue. He doesn't have
standing. Victims may be able to but Nouri would also be named in the
suit. He would be sued along with McCormick. That's because even after
the conviction, the wands continued to be used. In fact, they're still
in use today.

The fake detectors were still being used at checkpoints in Iraq as recently as two days ago, when a wave of car bombs struck Baghdad, killing 55 people, the Independent reported.
The paper said more than 4,500 people had been killed in Iraq since McCormick's conviction in April.
The Iraqi government had promised the devices would be phased out
and replaced by sniffer dogs, but only two provinces in the south of the
country have so far installed canine units, the newspaper reported.
Iraqi officials are reported to have complained that contradictory
statements have been made to them from the government, leading to delays
in the fake devices being banned.
A schoolteacher who witnessed one of Monday's explosions said: "I
went through one checkpoint on the way in [to Sadr City] where they had
the detectors just before the bombing.
"They look like wands and they are supposed to bend when they spot a bomb. But they are useless, everyone knows that."

That's on Nouri al-Maliki. And it's not minor.

When a leader of a country puts the people at risk as a result of a fake
security device? He needs to be sued, he needs to be impeached. He is
unfit for office.

For elections to be held in 2014, a law has to be passed. Iraq is supposed to
hold elections in 2014, parliamentary elections. The last ones were in
March 2010.

That's not how it was supposed to be. They were actually supposed to
take place in 2009. But they failed to pass the election law on time.
And what they did pass was unfair so Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi
used his veto right to stop the law. What was unfair?
The Iraqi government made the decision that Iraiq exiles and refugees
outside of Iraq could vote. But they were doing a lousy job with
polling stations in the areas that Sunni refugees immediately fled
(at that time: Syria, Jordan and Lebanon). al-Hashemi saw this as an
attempt to disenfranchise a group of people and stopped the law. (He
did give consent in time for a new law to be passed, however, the
Parliament couldn't get it together to do so in time.) Under Nouri
nothing happens on time. Each election brings more problems
than the one before. And it would be so nice if, for once, the Iraqi
High Electoral Committee and the United Nations Assistance Missionfor
Iraq were not having to scramble at the last minute. (The UN and IHEC
need at least three months lead time to prepare for a national
election.) Sunday, September 29th, UNAMI released the following:

Baghdad, 29 September 2013 – The Special Representative of the
United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG), Mr. Nickolay Mladenov,
today met with the Parliament Speaker, Mr. Usama Al-Nujeifi, as well as
with heads of several political blocs at the Council of
Representatives. كوردى

“I urge all political leaders to reach a compromise on the adoption
of the draft election law as soon as possible, and to make sure that
Iraq adheres to the electoral calendar, according to the
constitutionally stipulated timeframe,” Mr. Mladenov said. “The United
Nations will continue to work with all political blocs and entities to
facilitate reaching an agreement on the draft election law, and will
continue supporting the electoral process”, he concluded.

It's not just that group or just that issue. Ghassan Hamed and Muhannad Mohammad (Alsumaria) speak
with an MP from Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc, Hakem al-Zamili, who reveals
it's more than one group and that, if the delays continue, the Sadr bloc
is happy to go public about who is blocking the vote. It may not seem
like a big deal right now. Three months heads up, not that big. But I
remember August 2009. And how it wasn't going to be a big deal for the
legislation to be passed then either. But it took months. Plural.
This is nonsense. These matters are left until the last minute. The
Iraqi people don't deserve this and shouldn't accept it.

Last
year, for the first time since 1989, Iraq’s monthly oil production was
able to surpass Iran’s production quota inside the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).Iraqi monthly oil production export hit a high of 2.7 million barrels
per day (bpd) in 2012, while Iran’s fell from 2.2 million in 2011 to a
low of 1.5 million in 2012. This was largely due to tightened US and
international sanctions.Many thought that Iraq had become a stable oil producing country in
the region, but one year after achieving the higher production rates
Iraq once again became an unreliable source of oil. Production was again
down to 2.3 million bpd by July this year.